Sales of solar modules in Germany in 2021 increased by around ten percent year-on-year as around 240,000 solar power systems with a total output of 5.3 gigawatts (GW) were installed, the German Solar Association (BSW) said on Monday.
Around ten percent of Germany's electricity consumption is now covered by photovoltaic systems, according to the BSW's provisional figures.
Demand for solar systems for private homes and ground-level solar parks rose sharply last year, while newly installed photovoltaic capacity on commercial roofs fell, in some cases significantly, according to the BSW.
Germany's new government aims to generate 80 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and to expand installed solar power capacity in the country from the current 59 GW to 200 GW by the same date.
"This goal can be achieved if the solar turbo is ignited now," said the BSW's Managing Director Carsten Koernig, stressing that planning stages for solar power plants are shorter compared to other new power plants.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the bulk of electricity generated in Germany and fed into the grid in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021 still came from conventional energy sources, such as coal, natural gas or nuclear.
Also on Monday, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke said the government would response quickly to a controversial proposal of the European Union (EU) to classify nuclear power as sustainable.
"We will now quickly examine the EU proposal and coordinate within the German government," Lemke told the newspaper Rheinische Post.
Editor: Kelly
